Lily and Ike
by Quaver Ava
Summary: A dead ferret maid meets a schizophrenic hare child.
1. The Spot

The Spot

Lily sat in the hall with dried little tears on her fur. She stared at the other wall that made up the corridor. Hares, old and young, passed her by, unseeing to her small form. She ignored them as they did her, their long legs and ears a world away from where she sat. Only the breeze from the window nearby touched her as she looked continued to look at the other wall. Time was but an illusion to her as the day went on and on. With another sniff she brought her small arm up and rubbed at the black fur that surrounded her eyes, her small ear giving a twitch at the feeling of rough salt going across her little face.

She then brought her arm down and continued to stare at the other wall, many hares walking past, with just a few stopping to talk about classes, special friends, and family doings every now and again. All of their voices, their words and mannerisms were lost on her blank stare as she continued to look through them, at the single spot she looked at all the time. And she waited, as she waited every day and night, staring at the spotless stone.

More hares walked by, more hares stopped to talk, some even kissed in front of her, their hands roaming over each other's bodies before they broke apart and continued on their way. Salamandstron was a place filled to the brim with all kinds of hares, young and old, teaming with activity every waking hour. Her home in this mountain full of long eared creatures was the place she sat, in one of many halls that led to class rooms and education. But she did not know that for she ignored it all, as she always had, always staring at the spot across from her.

The stone was clean and perfect to the naked eye. Tiny crystals imbedded into the wall even shimmered as light passed over them each day and night. But like many things the stone was once dirty. It was like a child's hands, one moment covered in dirt, the next squeaky clean from washing them. It was a simple thing to clean what once was, wiping it away as if nothing had ever stained it. However Lily knew that the spot she looked at each passing hour of her life was once filthy and dirty, stained crimson with blood…Her blood

"_Fee, fee!" She cried out, pushing herself up against the wall, her leg useless from the blow of the hare's stone. He was standing over her then, his saber raised high into the air. "Fee Ackie nike!" She begged him, tears streaming from her small eyes. "Fee Ackie Nieeeaah!" Her cries turned into screams as he plunged the saber deep into her small and broken leg. "Feeheheee!" The child whimpered one last time, hoping he would understand. _

"_Vermin." He replied before bringing the blade down again, and again, and again, and-_

"Fee Ackie nike? What does that mean." A voice asked. Lily's eyes slowly opened from her nightmare to the place she always looked at. There sitting in her spot was a hare child, and he was looking directly at her. He tilted his head to one side before repeating her last living words. "Fee Ackie nike?"

oOoO0OoOo

…


	2. Ackie

Ackie

Lily looked across from her to the other wall where the hare child sat. He was a lanky looking thing with scruffy and unkempt fur. His eyes held a wide and wild look in them as his right ear twitched and his shoulders shifted at random. A square piece of wood was tied around his neck with what looked to be the letters SSZ on them. She took a double take at the strange item and realized the letters were actually fancy looking numbers, 522. It was then that she finally took in the dirty white jacket that was fitted snugly over his small chest. Loose straps limply tangled just above the spotless floor. It was his words next that confirmed that he was in fact what he looked to be. "I've never seen a voice before." The boy stated, he scooting forward out of the spot and towards her with his wide and wild eyes. An odd grin was plastered across his face that actually made her lean back a little.

But all the same she couldn't keep herself from asking back, "Oo Ackie eeree?" Never before did someone hear her, let alone see her. The nightmare that took place just moments ago quickly faded away as the boy got closer, his eyes a dangerously bright blue. She felt her heart beat quicken as he scooted another foot. "Icky Ackie neek!" She warned, finding his appearance frightening and making her panic.

The boy blinked before leaning back on his heels. She expected him to have had some sort of expression of remorse for scaring her but instead he kept his odd smile across his features. "I've never heard a voice that talks like you do." He said before he tilted his head and a distant look crossed his features. "Hey, of course she's a voice, no one else sees her but me like no one else hears you like me, wot!" The boy exclaimed, having switched from talking with her to something in the air. His distracted look left him a moment later as he turned his focus back to her, a grin spreading across his features. "Ackie is a nice word, what does it mean? Is that your name! Oooh, I like the name Ackie."

Somehow the boy thought Ackie was her name and Lily almost laughed at such an absurdity. She put her hand to her small chest, smiling at the thought of teaching him a word from her tongue. "Ackie ferrrrret." She said before pointing at him. "Ackie harrre." She understood woodland to a prefect tee but hated how their words rolled off her tongue. It felt strange to even talk from going for so long without speaking, let alone say stuff in a different way.

"Uhm… You can stop talking silly now. I-."

"Ackie!" Lily jumped, thrusting her finger at him. He fell backwards at her sudden movement, a yelp caught in his throat. "I, Ackie, I, Ackie, I Ackie!" The ferret maid repeated again and again, almost laughing as the boy slowly fixed himself, tucking his knees under him again.

He put a finger to his lips as a curious expression crossed his features, finally figuring what the ferret maid was trying to say. "Ackie is I?" he pondered out loud, making the girl grin as he caught on. And with a blink of his blue eyes he put a hand to his chest, smiling as he declared. "Ackie hare, Ackie Ike!"

Lily smiled before she gently placed her hand back to her chest, "Ackie Lily." She pointed at him. "Ackie Ike." And then back to her. "I Lily."

"I'm Ike."

oOoO0OoOo

…


	3. Shattered Thoughts

Shattered Thoughts

Ike liked learning new things and was a really quick learner. No, he was better than really quick, he was super quick! _The words genius to be precise, stupid. _But he was just a boy and that was a silly thing to say about a boy. No, he was just a quick learner. All it really was was listening and remembering what the ferret voice said. It was like being given a little sheet of paper, all he had to do was look at it and keep it in his head. Why, if you asked him what he read three weeks ago he could recite it all to you perfectly! But no one really asked him but the voices… _That's because they don't like that you hear voices. They don't like you Ike… _Ooh but that was fine if they didn't like him because he had the voices to talk to and his mommy and now the new voice that he could see! Her name was Lily, it was a pretty name.

_Oh but Ike, you also talk to Mr. Thistle right? _With a sudden grumble Ike crossed his arms at the thought of that evil and terrible hare trying to be his dad. No, his dad was a smart and heroic officer named Vodge who would come back one day and save mommy from Mr. Thistle and his eevvill plans to take his mom and turn him into a slave! Laugh or cringe at the thought he was serious.

"Hey, OK you?" He heard Lily say in her language, now understanding almost everything she said. It was fun learning new words! _You're still stupid. _Oh but it was still really fun, even if he wasn't as smart as some of the other kids in his class. They knew how to subtract numbers. _You can't subtract numbers Ike, it's impossible for you and you never will. _Subtracting numbers was harder than remembering stuff because the teachers wanted him to write out his work and thought he was cheating when he put down the answer with no work and…"Hey, you no OK." The ferret said breaking his line of thought. He focused on her as she started to crawl over and lifted her hand into the air.

But Lily froze, her hand staying in the air in a trembling hesitance like his mother would sometimes... _Because she doesn't want to touch you. _"But she's a voice." _She's no voice. _Lily cocked her head to the side before she relaxed, lowing her hand to the floor. Ike knew the expression that crossed her features then. His mommy and all the other grown-ups held that face a lot of the time. Mr. Thristle had that face almost all the time. He didn't like it. _It's called pity, cause they realize you aren't normal. _"Mommy says I'm just different, and different is OK." Ike mumbled with his head down casted, talking to neither the voices nor the ferret voice that couldn't hear the others but… to himself.

"Oh Ike, that fine, you OK. You learn Askan tongue real quick! Talk different, ya, but learn quick, ya." Lily said, trying to reassure him but he ignored her. It was really hard for him to ignore voices and people because he was such a good listener but he practiced a lot and ignored her then. His legs crawled up to his chest as he stared down at a spot bellow him. There was an odd darker tint to the stone that looked like a stain long ago cleaned. There were a lot of spots like that all over Salamandstron…

He stared at that spot for just a minute or so, or that's what he thought. Sometimes when he started ignoring everything he also ignored the time as well. Finally after what was actually a few minutes he felt something touch his shoulder. It was a warm and reassuring hand, small and delicate. He looked up to meet Lily's brown eyes. "Me vermin. You fine. Like you much, yes." And she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him then. He took in a sniff as she hugged him, her chin resting on his shoulder and neck next to his. She felt really warm and a content feeling passed through him.

With a smile Ike took his arms from his knees, wrapped them around Lily, and brought her into a close hug. There was nothing else in the world in that moment but him and her. Everything fell silent from the sounds and voices to the feelings and touches. All that Ike knew and wanted to know as Lily continued to hold him and he hold her was the warmth between them.

He wasn't sure who closed their eyes first, but he knew he felt loved in that moment…

oOoO0OoOo

…


	4. You I love

"You I love"

The last time Lily had been on the spot she had been in pain, being hurt until she couldn't hurt anymore. A sword had been plunged into her again and again as she screamed for help and begged for mercy. Her cries had fallen onto deaf ears, but she cried until she could cry no more. And when her soul was torn from her body she watched and begged for him to stop but he continued to drive the sword into her again and again until she was but a stain of red. Blood had rolled down the walls and pooled around what used to be her body. Bits and pieces of her had clung to hare by the time he had finished, pure hatred in his eyes.

Lily had crawled to the other side of the wall to cry. She had cried into her knees until the light came through a nearby window and passed over her soul. The maid had looked up to see that her remains had been taken away and her blood washed from the walls. All that was left then was a single spot of blood until another hare came by to scrub it clean. From then on she had waited, and she had watched over that single spot, never daring to move. The sun flew over her again and again, winters and summers passing her by as she had stayed on her side of the wall and keeping guardian over that one little speck of stone.

Now she didn't wait anymore. Now she wasn't there but here, over the spot that held her prisoner for many, many year. The memories, the pain, and the death were no more. She did not look at it nor did she realize it was there. It all now began to fade away, turning into a grey cloud of haze. In its place a new thing arose, something so different from the pain and sadness that it washed everything away. Once stained with blood and scarred; now she was cleaned, beautiful like the tiny crystals in the wall.

And all that mattered was the single soul she held in her arms. Warmth radiated from deep within her chest and into him. All that she possibly cared about now was being with him, and all she wanted was to keep her arms around his small body. Her eyes slowly opened as she knew that he was what she had been waiting for. She didn't need someone to take her pain away; she needed someone to show her it again. Squeezing her arms around him a little she decided she would hold him and be over him forever and ever. She would love him and she would be there for him. And most importantly she would protect him.

He wasn't well, like she hadn't been well, and she wanted him to be OK. She wanted him to smile and laugh, to learn and grow. She wanted him to be happy and be joyful. She didn't like how he had been sad and upset. No, she liked him happy, she liked seeing him happy. There was something wrong about him that she couldn't fix, that no one could fix. But it was something that made him who he was. Now it was bad, it made him unhappy; she could feel it make him unhappy. Whatever it was she wouldn't be able to take away but she would make it into something good. Somehow in some way, even if it took another hundred years, she would make it good and make him happy.

"Oo Ackie wuv." The ferret maid said into his shoulder, hugging herself even closer.

oOoO0OoOo

…


	5. Locked In

**Locked In**

Ike's eyes slowly opened to a long ray of sunlight streaming over his face. He squinted at the brightness before turning away and his eyes adjusting to his surroundings. He was in his room, tucked away in his bed. A dresser filled with sloppy cloths was next to the half open door to the rest of his family's apartment. _Tsk tsk tsk. _Ike ignored the ticking noise knowing that his mother never kept clock work around. He licked his dry lips a little before sitting up and swinging his legs over the mattress.

Next to the dresser with his cloths was an old oat rack adorned with a sloppy assortment of hats, scarves, gloves, and jackets, and his favorite coat which he had named Mr. Huggles. With a smile the boy walked over to it and grabbed the strange piece of clothing, putting it on. He liked wearing it because it reminded him of happier times where he and his mom got the medical bay all to themselves and she would talk and sing to him every day. Now they lived in an apartment like everyone else and he had to go to school like everyone else…

Ike popped the restraining jacket over his head, making sure that the straps didn't wrap around his neck or got caught on anything. There was one time he had almost joked himself to death and Mr. Thistle had to calm him down and take the jacket off. But now he knew better and was a good jacket putter onner! _Tsk tsk tsk. _He blinked at the noise before making a face and walking over to his dresser to get his pants. But then he realized that he was still wearing his pants from yesterday from when he ran away and met Lily…

"Lily?" Ike called out, lightly gasping at remembering her. She was the new voice that was nice and taught him how to talk differently. He could also see and touch her making her a very special voice. No, she was better than a voice, she was his friend. He turned his head right and left as if she were to materialize before him by just thinking about her, like all voices did when he tried. But strangely she didn't.

"Lily?" he called out again, this time a bit louder. Maybe it just took a little more thinking to try and get her to appear. She was in his head right? _Like I said before, she ain't a voice. _"But sure she is." the boy replied, looking as if he were talking to thin air. _She left you Ike, just like Hazel left you with those mean hares… _Ike's lower lip trembled for just a second before he got ahold himself and turned to his door. No, she was probably still at that one spot, like she always was before he was brave enough to sit down and talk with her. He would just go there and… _But Ike, can you find her? You'll get lost like you always do. No, she's gone, forever and will never return. _

Clenching his fist the boy left his room and marched to the front door. He would show them all that he could find his way perfectly fine, _without _their help. He would find Lily, tell her where he lived, then they'd play together and she'd teach him all sorts of new words. Oh how he loved learning new words, even his voices liked new words… Ike's hand touched the handle to the door that led to the rest of the mountain and made to turn it in that moment of excitement. And as if yanked out of his grasp the handle didn't move.

In his small chest his heart froze as everything went silent. There was no mumbling, no voices to turn to for comfort or fight back, not even the tsking sound from early. This was something outside of his mind. Something that he had feared for the longest of time… "N-no…" He jiggled the handle again, hoping maybe it would open. The air was deathly silent as he pulled at it one more time. He was locked inside… He was trapped… Just like that one night his mother locked him in a closet.

"It no open silly, no try no more." A voice said from behind him. For just a second he hesitated, not sure if he was simply imaging her voice or if it was truly her… He tuned and there standing in the sunlight was Lily. A smile grew across both of their faces at the same time before Ike ran up to the ferret maid and threw his arms around her, burying his face into her shoulder. She hugged him back for a minute then lightly laughed before holding him arm's length away. "Ike fine, yes? No need to go away, I hear, your mom here, stay here." She said, her a fuzzy sort of feeling going through his stomach as the maid smiled at him.

"But I, the door, I…" Ike began his smile fading away before Lily put a small finger to his lips.

"Shh, lock in yes, but I here and will always be here. No go, I no go." she said to him. _Don't listen to her Ike, you need to leave, you need to go… _"Hey, you happy now you hear?" Lily added, her features narrowing in determination for just a moment. A smile slowly spread across his lips as he stared into her brown eyes. The thing that he wanted out there was now here, in front of him and there was no reason to leave anymore. He threw his arms around her again and brought her into a hug.

"I'm happy Lily now that you're here." He mumbled, smiling into her shoulder.

But then she pushed him away and he stumbled backwards in shock. A grin was plastered across her face as she winked at him. "OK, nuff hugs, you it, catch me now!" Ike laughed before giving chase after the ferret girl who stood in the sunlight.

From the doorway leading to his mother's room two figures stood, watching the boy as he ran around the room, trying to catch something invisible only he could see. A light smile crossed Hazel's features as she shook her head before turning away, pulling her love back to their bed. Ike was fine and happy, and that's all that mattered.

oOoO0OoOo

**Ike and Lily will return in the sequel to Lucy's Tale, "Voices." **


End file.
